Friends on the Other Side facts for kids

"Friends on the Other Side" is a song from the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog. It was written by Randy Newman and is sung by Keith David, the voice of the film's villain, Doctor Facilier. It depicts Facilier beginning his plan to take over New Orleans by first deceiving Prince Naveen while at the same time, getting his valet, Lawrence, to become his ally. This song is reprised later in the film when he fails and is dragged into the voodoo spirit world.

Production

The song shares many similarities with Ursula's "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in The Little Mermaid, both being sung by villains who claim to do business by helping make the dreams of others come true when in reality, they're doing what they do for their own benefit and delight, and both are used as means to deceive the protagonists (both, coincidentally, being royals) into making deals with them, and both songs ending with the protagonist undergoing a mystical transformation that will last for nearly most of the film.

"Friends on the Other Side" is the first song in almost a decade after "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, and the deleted song "Snuff Out the Light" from The Emperor's New Groove in 2000, to continue the tradition of Disney villains of newer Disney films having their own songs.

Synopsis

Dr. Facilier is envious at just how much wealth is owned by Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff. He decides there must be a way to make himself just as wealthy as Eli. Facilier follows Big Daddy and his daughter, Charlotte La Bouff, into a cafe, where they discuss the arrival of a foreign prince, Prince Naveen. A lovesick Charlotte looks to marry Naveen and shares her excitement with a waitress named Tiana. While lurking in the shadows, Facilier eavesdrops on the conversation and plots to use Charlotte and Naveen's union to seize the La Bouff fortune.

He leads Naveen and Lawrence into his shop and bids them sit down at a table for a Tarot reading. While performing tricks with his Tarot cards, Facilier reads Naveen and Lawrence's situations: Naveen has been cut off from his parents' money and needs to marry a rich young lady, while Lawrence has apparently been "pushed around all [his] life", primarily by his family. However, at the end of each reading, Facilier prognosticates that their situation will change, using deliberately ambiguous wording: Naveen will receive "green" (a double entendre referring to money and to Naveen's later transformation into a frog), while Lawrence will become "exactly the man [he] always wanted to be", referencing Lawrence's envy of Naveen's carefree life. Facilier pleads for both of them to shake his hand, and grins evilly as they do, sealing a contract with him and summoning his "Friends on the Other Side", who take the form of voodoo dolls, masks, and shrunken heads. Retrieving a talisman from the largest mask Friend, Facilier uses it to prick Naveen's finger and take his blood, starting his transformation into a frog. Lawrence is terrified as his master shrinks down into the shape of an amphibian, as Facilier exults with dancing and fireworks, before the camera fades to black with a warning of "Hush..." from the magician.

Reprise

Tiana tries to destroy the talisman Facilier received in the original to lock away Naveen's blood, but Facilier's shadow grabs it and hands it back to the doctor. A sadistic Facilier then transforms Tiana back into a frog, before taunting her by declaring that she will now spend the rest of her life as a frog. Tiana regains the talisman by grabbing hold of it with her elastic, frog tongue, and destroys it before Facilier can stop her. Upon doing so, Facilier falls into a state of immediate panic and frantically tries to recollect the pieces of the broken talisman, just as his "friends from the other side" arrive, announcing their intentions to collect the doctor's soul as punishment for his failure to repay his debt.

A horrified Dr. Facilier tries to persuade his former accomplices to provide him with another opportunity to redeem himself since he still had Naveen captured and needed more time. Despite telling the truth, they are not persuaded as he makes an attempt to escape, but the spirits grab hold of his shadow, thus capturing Facilier as well, subsequently dragging him into the voodoo spirit world, where his soul will be doomed to remain for all eternity. With a flash of light, both Dr. Facilier and the spirits vanish, leaving behind only a tombstone with Facilier's name and horrified face engraved onto it, confirming the witch doctor's death.